A brief history of the Eastern European Business Directory project by Frank X. Didik

The Eastern European Business Directory was the first glimpse that the west had of Eastern Europe entities and manufacturing capabilities, after the wall came down in 1989.

  This page was written to assist historians understand the Eastern European Business Directory Project. Tens of thousands of pages covering early Eastern European commercial entities are available and hopefully in the future, these documents will be scanned and available for researchers.

  With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in December 1989 and the initial euphoria which followed, few western business people, or even western government trade offices, for that matter, had any idea of what was manufactured or produced in Eastern Europe, nor did key westerners realize the technologies and advancements that were potentially available in almost all fields. At that time, the term "Eastern Europe" also included the European based republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as the then "East Germany" (Democratic Republic of Germany or DDR). By early 1993, the understanding of the term "Eastern Europe" no longer included the European countries of the former Soviet Union and did not included the former Eastern Germany, which by then was incorporated/merged into the expanded Federal Republic of Germany. As of this writing, the term Eastern Europe now indeed does include many of the former republics of the Soviet Union, though often Russia is not included in that understanding of the term, while countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and others are presently considered "Central Europe". It is possible that in the future, this will represent a constant confusion among historians to understand the what country was considered where, at any given time.

  In an effort to enhance mutually beneficial trade, the distinguished Eastern European Business Database project was developed by Frank X. Didik of New York City. Over 2000 trade bureaus, government offices, municipalities and others agreed to participated and supplied vital industrial information to be incorporated into the primary book and, later, the CD-Rom's which were produced. As a result of this project, the Eastern European Business Directory was published in the United States and England and elsewhere by Gale Research, which was at the time, one of the largest business book publishers. The Eastern European Business Directory was the very first comprehensive directory covering every major and significant Eastern European factory, businesses and industrial and commercial enterprises.

  At the time when this massive project was first published in late 1990, it was the only such comprehensive source available and as such libraries, corporations, government agencies and key investors world wide, quickly snapped up the Eastern European Business Directory. It was distributed by many distinguished organizations including the United States Department of Commerce and others world wide. Today, the Eastern European Business Directory can be found in almost every major library, corporation, embassy and government trade office world wide. To enhance mutually beneficial trade, other trade directories covering the west were written and compiled by Frank X. Didik and published in several countries including Poland, former Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

  For additional information on a wide array of Frank X. Didik development projects, including such areas as solar and electric powered cars, stereo 3D television, stereographic printing, medical devices, infrastructure devices, Trans-Global Highway and others, please go to www.DIDIK.com or www.FrankDidik.com. You may also contact Frank Didik at eebd@didik.com. Thank you for your time.

To enlarge click on any photograph.

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The first Gale edition of the Eastern European Business Directory had 1100 pages.

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 ISBN: 0-8103-8401-9

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Polish Edition

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The Eastern Europe Business Database CD-ROM contained information on the over 128,000 companies plus vital information.

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The Eastern European Business Database project was written about and quoted in numerous magazines, newspapers, books and journals.

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The U.S. Department of Commerce prominently displayed the database at trade shows.

Other publications and news clippings exist from this project. If you have a specific question regarding something not seen or would like historic information on early Eastern Europe entities, please send an email to eebd@ didik.com

 Copyright by Frank X. Didik
All Rights Reserved